Four Founders of Hogwarts
by KikiLuckoMimi
Summary: About the four founders, starting from when they were children.
1. Chapter 1: Godric

"Be careful Godric! That branch might not hold you," his mother called from down below.

His mother was always worried about him, although when he looked down he started thinking his mother might be right. The ground really was getting pretty far. _I'm brave_ , he told himself, and he continued onwards. Even at nine years old he knew that he was brave. Or at least that he tried to be brave. His red hair shone like fire in the sunlight, and the wind was blowing softly around him. He looked up, and smiled. He loved seeing the world spread out before him, it made him feel powerful. He was in the forest, on the tallest tree, and he could see the sky, deep blue, without a cloud in the sky. It was a perfect day for playing outside, and he wished he could stay up on the tree forever. He was starting to wonder if he should try climbing further, when the branch started to bend.

CRACK! He quickly reached up to grab onto another branch, but that one cracked too. Suddenly he was falling through the air. He screamed and just thought of one word, UP, as hard as he could, trying to fly back up onto the tree. His mother was shouting below, calling for help, or maybe trying to catch him. Suddenly, his fall reversed, and he zoomed up into the air a few feet, landing on another branch lower down. His mother called up to him.

"Godric! Are you alright? What happened?"

He waited for his heartbeat to return to its normal speed and catch his breath before he answered his mother's question. "I'm fine! The branches broke, but there must have been a strong wind that slowed my fall. Anyway, I caught another branch." Godric wasn't scared. That was actually rather exciting.

"I'm fine," he repeated to his mother, grinning.

He was still rather high up on the tree, and since this was the tallest tree in the forest, he could still see a good deal. This branch was much sturdier than the other one he was on, so he didn't worry about falling. While he was looking up, he saw something flying closer. It looked like a bird, but when it got closer he realized it was far too big to be a normal bird. _Dragon_ , he thought. He gaped at the sky, mouth hanging open, as he saw the magnificent beast come closer. The dragon didn't come as close as he would have liked, but he could easily see that it was a beautiful hue of dark green, with a long golden horn on its head that shone in the sunlight. The dragon eventually flew out of sight, and only then did he realize his mother had been talking to him the whole time.

"Godric! Are you listening? What's wrong?" His mother called worriedly.

"I saw a dragon! A real dragon. It was green, and had a big gold horn on its head! Did you see it too? The dragon flew by just a second ago" he told his mother.

"Godric… Are you feeling alright? I know you just almost fell from a tree. Maybe you should come down now and have some rest."

"I didn't imagine it! There was definitely a dragon that flew by" Godric insisted.

His mother eventually agreed with him, but he could tell she only said it to make him come down. It didn't matter if his mother didn't believe him though, he knew what he had seen, and he had seen a dragon. That reminded him of when he had been falling, and suddenly flew upwards to land on a branch. He hadn't thought of it since seeing the dragon, but it had been very strange. He would have to go ask his friend, Jerry when he got back home. Jerry Dean was his best friend and partner prankster, who always seemed to know more about magic than everyone else. Of course, his parents said all that was silly superstition, and there was no such thing as magic. Jerry's parents always denied they did magic, but Godric had long realized that Jerry always avoided the topic of magic, especially when he was talking to Godric. Godric always had the suspicion Jerry's parents were witches or wizards in hiding, he had even heard them talking about wizards once.

Soon, Godric and his mother returned to the village. His mother wanted to take him to see the local wizard (which his mother insisted was just a fancy word for doctor). Since the local wizard was Jerry's dad, Godric agreed to go. When they arrived at Jerry's house, Ms. Dean (Jerry's mom) welcomed them and listened to his mother talk about their walk in the woods.

"I'm worried he hit his head when he he slipped off the branch. Perhaps you or your husband can take a look, and give him some herbs to make him calm down. He keeps swearing he saw a dragon while he sat on the tree." His mother said.

"I did see a dragon. The dragon was green with a big gold horn!" Godric protested. His mother sighed and agreed with him.

"Don't worry, most little boys have an overactive imagination. That's not a bad thing. I'll bring him in to see my husband." Ms. Dean answered.

Godric went in, and Ms. Dean brought him to Jerry's dad. Jerry's dad was sitting at a table, giving a lady who came from the neighboring village a small bag of herbs for a bad cough she had. The lady was soon done with her appointment and left.

"Godric. What's the problem this time? Nothing seems broken at least." Mr. Dean said smiling.

"I fell out of a tree, but then I suddenly shot up while I was falling and landed on a branch. After that, I saw a dragon." Godric explained.

Jerry walked in while he was talking and exclaimed, "You saw a dragon! That's so cool. What was it like?"

Mr. Dean frowned at Jerry. "Now boys, calm down. I'm more interested about what Godric said before the part about the dragon. You said you suddenly shot upward. Was the wind strong that day?"

Godric thought about it for a moment. "No actually, the wind wasn't very strong at all. Mom would have been even more worried if there was wind that day"

"What were you thinking about when you fell?"

"I was just thinking about going up. I really did NOT want to fall." Mr. Dean leaned back in his chair and seemed to be in deep thought. Finally he sat up and spoke again.

"Godric, I think you should take a rest. Sleep a little and you will feel better." Mr. Dean opened a drawer and took at a small vial with a dark purple liquid inside. "Here, come with me and lie down. Then drink just a little of this. It will help you sleep." Godric drank a little of the liquid in the vial. It was flavorless, and soon he fell into deep sleep.


	2. Chapter 2: Rowena

Some days, it just felt like the whole world was against her. Rowena was nine and already considered the brightest child of her age. But she had the misfortune to be born a girl, in a world where women were just simply not supposed to be smart. She was better than all the other boys of her age, especially in academics, but they were the ones who went to school without anyone asking questions. She improved her education by sneaking into the school and self teaching before she was eight.

Finally, enough arguments with her parents had made them give her a chance by passing a test. The test was meant to be impossible, but she had passed it with a perfect score after nights of studying. But that had gotten her only a year of education. Despite always answering every question correct, finishing every exercise before her fellow boy classmates, she was still not good enough. She was nine, now considered too old for education, so her parents wanted to force her to quit. Life was so unfair.

"Hey Ro. I heard the news, " Came a soft voice from behind her. Rowena was currently sitting near a pond sulking. She didn't even need to turn around to know who he was.

"It's just so unfair Evan! I've done everything the best I can, and no one cares. They still want to throw me out of school for something that wasn't my fault. Why can't they see me as who I really am? Why do even my own parents see nothing but the supposed weaknesses of my gender? Am I really this unimportant, for something that happened when I was born?" Tears started to come to Rowena's eyes as she talked. She hated crying in front of most people, even her family. But Evan had always been different. He had moved into their village a few years ago, and he had been her friend ever since he came. He was mature beyond his years. She could see that, the second she saw him. There was just simply something about him, something that calmed her down, something about him that always understood her. He agreed with her views as well, believed that women could be as smart and strong as men. Once, Rowena had asked Evan why he thought this way. He had told her his mother had been the strongest, bravest, and most intelligent person he had known. She had always insisted that women and men were equal, and being such a good example, he had always believed his mother was the one who was right, not the outside world.

"They don't understand. Your parents think they are doing the best for you. But I know you, and you don't give up. You'll find a way to succeed, I'm certain." Evan answered. She smiled and felt determination start to replace her despair. Time to stop moping and find a way past his new problem.

Nine was the age the school started teaching magic. Rowena supposed that was probably the reason her parents had stopped her from going to school. It wasn't ladylike or very becoming for a woman to become powerful in any way, even magically. _Fine_ , she thought to herself, _I'll train on my own, and end up better than the rest of you_. It had been very obvious Rowena was magical since she let loose random bursts of magic all the time. The first time she had done magic was when she was five. She had made the door to her room disappear after her parents locked her in it.

She waited until nightfall when she had finished all her work and her mother thought she was sleeping, then snuck out to the woods to start practicing. Rowena had also stolen her father's wand (he was out drinking and wouldn't realize for some time his wand was missing). Evan had lent her his textbook, and she had read through and memorized every word in the first chapter. She flipped open the book anyway, bringing the lantern she carried with her close to the pages and looked carefully at the first spell. It was a simple spell for light, the incantation was Lumos. She visualized light, saw the spell in her mind. She imagined light on the tip of her wand, and commanded for her magic to obey her wish.

"Lumos!" She said, clear and confident, her voice ringing out across the woods. The tip of her wand brightened, and illuminated her surroundings. Her excitement at completing her first spell made the spell start running out of control, and the light grew bright red and _hot_. She quickly dropped the wand, and stumbled backwards.

"Hell, " she muttered as the light went out around her. She'd also managed to step on the lantern she brought with her and put out the light. After crawling on the ground for some time, she managed to find the wand again.

"Lumos!" Rowena said, much more calmly this time. She found the broken lantern on the ground, but her foot had completely crushed it. She would have to find her way home using the new spell she had learned. The light at the tip of her wand was nowhere near steady, and it took a great deal of concentration to keep the spell going. Thankfully, the walk out of the woods was short, and once she was on open ground, she could find the way home by starlight.

When Rowena returned back home, she saw that her father had already returned and was out drunk on his bed. She returned the wand to his bedside, feeling a pang of loss at letting it go. Her mind still buzzing with magic, she went to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3: Helga

She was running "Hey dungbrain! Bet you don't have the bravery to face us" a voice shouted. They were getting closer, and then she suddenly slipped and fell. They stood over her and a boy, Magnus Malfoy pulled his wand out of the sleeve of his cloak. Helga winced, preparing to be hit by a hex.

Magnus had just moved into her town a few years ago, and had been her rival ever since. She wished she could go to school like him, so she wouldn't be such an easy target, but all the good wizarding schools weren't for girls.

"Magnus Malfoy!" A shrill voice screeched, "Get in the house right this instant! Your cousin, Salazar is here."

"Coming, mother." Magnus grumbled, "I'll get you next time, Helga, we'll Crucio you until you lose your mind . Maybe me and Salazar will get you together"

Trembling, Helga got up. Who was this Salazar and what would they do to her? She decided she would stay away from this newcomer. If he was related to Malfoy in any way, he probably meant trouble.

Helga started to head home. She lived with her rich godmother, Eada, but she didn't pay much attention to her. The neighborhood kids bullied her because she was an orphan, who didn't go to school and didn't come from a rich family, like them. Helga didn't want to keep this forever. She didn't like this feeling, and she wanted to change it, change her life and the way that people saw her. But this wasn't something she could change. The only way to change the way people saw her was to do better, making them have nothing bad to say . Although Malfoy insulted Helga about her looks too, since she was fat and ugly. That was something she could never change. Helga decided to cook when she got home. Cooking was her talent, and it always made her feel better. In her own cooking world, there was no noise. There was only herself and the aroma of sweets and freshly baked pumpkin pasties. She liked the feeling of this, being in her special world where there were no hurtful words or worries.

"Eada, I'm going to use the kitchen!" Helga called when she entered the manor.

"Alright, alright," Eada grunted, "But I don't want to see another stain of frosting on my walls, girl, or you'll be cleaning it up."

"Of course I won't, Eada, I promise." Helga assured. She grabbed a wooden rod and took some fire from the chimney. She put the flaming stick in the oven and waited for the fire to spread. Once the fire was big and flickering, she took a large, silver bowl and poured flour into it. She started mixing more ingredients into her bowl and soon enough the kitchen was filled with the smell of cake. Helga dipped a finger into the batter and tasted it. Good, she thought, but definitely not enough .

She stood there staring at the batter for a while, wondering if she should use magic. Eada didn't like it when she used magic in the house, but Helga knew she had a talent when it came to food charms. Looking around to make sure her godmother wasn't nearby, she pointed at the cake batter and a sparks shot from her finger into the mixture. A thrill of excitement ran through her as she felt the magic work. She loved magic, especially when she was using it for cooking. Helga tasted some of the batter again. Perfect , she thought happily. Then turned around to pour the batter into a pan, and almost dropped the bowl.

Sitting next to the stove was a house-elf. Helga stared at the house-elf with her mouth hanging open. She (the house-elf seemed to be female) was sleeping, and was in pitiful condition. One of her long ears was badly burned, and she had bruises all around her neck, as if someone had tried to choke her. Her leg was bent at an awkward angle, so it was likely broken. Helga's heart hurt just from looking at the sleeping figure. When Helga put the bowl on the table the house-elf woke up.

The elf quickly scrambled to her feet. "Miss! Flippy is not meaning to bother you, only Master has freed Flippy accidentally and now Master is searching. I doesn't wish to go back to master, please don't tell anyone I is here."

"Of course I won't tell anyone. Let's heal your ears and leg, then I'll find somewhere to hide you" Helga answered without a second thought. Her blood boiled with rage at the thought of Flippy's cruel master, and although she knew helping the house-elf could put her in deep trouble, she didn't care. She had to help Flippy. She moved closer and reached out to heal Flippy's ear, moving slowly and carefully. Although it took a great deal of her energy, she managed to heal the ear and leg. Suddenly she heard the door open, her aunt was coming home! Helga quickly rushed to her room and hid Flippy in her closet.

"Just stay quiet, my aunt is home" Helga whispered to Flippy. Then Helga rushed back to the kitchen.

She poured the batter of the cake into a pan and quickly stuffed it into the oven to bake. As the kitchen filled with the scent of pumpkin and spices, Helga could feel her fear and worries ebbing away. Maybe this could work out after all , she thought.


End file.
